Amour Fou
by marielionne
Summary: Two people are stuck in marriages they rushed into. When they finally discover what they really want, they break out of their lives, shattering rules and conventions as they do. Set five years after Hermione graduates. HGSB.
1. Confession

„I am a total failure. As a husband and as a man." Sirius Black buried his handsome face in his hands as he spoke.

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Sirius best friend Remus Lupin, sitting opposite him at the sunlit pub's table shook his head. "Your marriage is going just fine and after all I know you are a lot but no failure as a man." Remus could not help but smile at memories of Sirius' days as Hogwarts' leading ladies' man came to his mind.

"You don't get me Remus, I just can't do this. How could I ever think that I would make a good husband? I mean look at me, I am so… Oh, I blew it all!" Sirius would not listen to anything Remus would say. Even though 44 years old, Sirius Black was still as stubborn as a teenager when it came to having his way with things.

"Once again: What are you talking about?" Although, Remus thought quietly, it was not as though he had not seen this coming when Sirius had rushed into a marriage with a witch a lot younger and as different from himself as she could possibly be.

Sirius finally took his hands off his face, faced Remus and said: "I am having an affair."

Remus could not help it: "Well, it would make no sense to pretend that this would come as a surprise." He said dryly.

"What? Just a minute ago, you told me everything seems fine in my marriage, blabla. And now you tell me you've known it all along that I would start an affair?" Sirius looked scandalized, however, equally unsurprised.

"Sirius, given that your wife is, well not exactly your type and that you seemed to act so out of character when you married her in this cosy little ceremony ten months ago, just after dating her for, what was it? Three months?

"Two." Sirius' voice sounded agonized.

"No, given all that, it does not surprise me at all." Remus sighed. "And now you are seeing someone else?"

A mischievious grin flickered over Sirius' face: "I am not only _seeing_ her Moony, mate. Sorry." He added after Remus' face showed the desire to be spared the details all to clearly.

"OK, so I do not say that I appreciate your having an affair and cheating on your wife at all. But I mean, if you know that it's wrong, why don't you just end it and get back to your marriage and try to make it work?" Remus looked at his friend in concern.

"I can't. It's too late." Sirius said this with a determination that made Remus suspect the worst.

"You got your affair pregnant? Sirius, are you crazy?"

"No, I did not get her pregnant you idiot, I know better than that. No, it's worse."

"Worse? What could be worse?" Remus asked, completely bewildered.

Sirius sighed: "I am in love." Remus stared. Sirius continued: "I am madly in love. I think of her all the time, I spend my days working out ways how we can be together. I crave for the hours with her, I curse myself for not having found her earlier."

Remus was speechless. Then: "Oh my goodness. You love her? You really love her?"

"I fantasize about a family with her. Or a wild and crazy life. Or exile on some deserted island. Or whatever would make her happy." Sirius drowned his drink. "I am doomed."

"Yeah, you are." Remus drowned his drink too, staring at a ray of sunlight falling through the window. "How long has this been going on?"

"Two months. I hadn't seen her, I mean really seen her, for a long time. And then we got toghether by accident and talked for a whole day, the conversation of my life, I tell you. She is in a situation that is so similar to mine, it's almost spooky." Sirius was appearantly lost in thought.

Remus raised his eyebrows: "So, she is married too?"

"Yeah and I hate the bloke. He is a prat, doesn't know what he has, that idiot." Sirius' eyes darkened.

"You know him?"

"Yeah. But that's not the point. The point is that I know her. And that I want her like I've never wanted someone. Remus, you know I've had a lot of women." Remus nodded exasperatedly. "But what I have with her is so intense. And it's not just the sex, although that is really unbelievable, I can tell you that. No, it is her, how she is, she wipes me off my feet. She is beautiful, a real stunner, but that's not the point either. It's her heart, she knows me, mate, she understands me. She can see right into my soul and what's the best thing about it, she lets me see her soul too. And her mind, what a mind! She's the smartest witch I've ever met…" Sirius' voice trailed away as he described the woman he loved.

Something in Sirius' words made Remus look up: "Sirius" he said slowly. "That woman, she is no one we know, is she? I mean, she is none of our friends? Sirius, tell me she isn't!"

Sirius frowned slightly, looking extremely guilty, but said nothing.

"Oh no. Sirius you didn't. That is so out of question!" hissed Remus who had just realized who Sirius' mysterious affair must be.


	2. Unexpected Marriages

On an afternoon four months previous, three young people sat outside the Burrow, eagerly awaiting the return of their best friend. Harry Potter, now 22, had his arm casually around Ginny Weasley's shoulders as they sat in the warm, fresh grass. Ginny's brother Ron was sprawled on the lawn at their feet, gazing lazily into the sun.

"I can't believe we haven't seen Hermione for nine months." Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose and shook his head. He was still sporting untidy black hair and the unmistakable scar, the only remainder of Lord Voldemort whose defeat five years ago had sent the whole wizarding world celebrating. He was still a good deal shorter than the lanky Ron, but his job as an Auror kept him fit and lean.

"Make that two years for me, I could not come when you visited her last year. And I can't wait to meet this guy of hers." The pretty redhead next to Harry gestured wildly.

"Husband, Ginny, husband! She is married, remember!" Ron, grass stains from the previous Quidditch game all over his shirt, corrected his sister.

"I can't believe she married that guy. I mean, she didn't even tell us before." Ginny could not get used to the idea of her best friend being married to someone neither she and nor anyone of her old Hogwarts friends knew.

"'Dear Harry, Ron and Ginny'" Ron started quoting the letter that had reached them half a year ago. "'I hope you are all well in old England. America and New York are as great as ever and Kondra University is still fascinating. I have very good news to tell you. It might come surprising for you, so I would advise you to sit down and stay calm. Harry, Ron, you met Paul, my fellow student and boyfriend when you came here. We have a very good relationship and I am happy to tell you that every day with Paul made it clearer that I have finally found someone who shares my opinions about life and how it should be like. This is the reason why Paul and me decided to take our relationship one step further. Last Saturday, we married in the New York Ministry of Magic. I am really sorry I did not tell you or invite you, please be not upset with me. It is not a big deal, the ceremony was simple and quiet, so you did not miss any big parties. I have thought this step through in every detail and I am very happy about it. I wanted to make sure that everything works out and is set, before telling anyone, so I could make that decision on my own, without any irrational interference. I am so glad to see you all soon! Love, Hermione.' Mental, I tell you!" Ron added.

After graduation from Hogwarts everyone was very keen to se what the most brilliant student of the year would do with her life. Great things were expected from her, but she managed to astonish everyone by announcing that she had been accepted to Kondra University in New York.

Kondra was the oldest, finest institution for studying the subject Hermione had discovered a true passion for: Magical Law. Out of thousands of applicant from all around the world, only fifty were accepted to start the extremely difficult law programme at Kondra. For a few months, it had seemed that Hermione would go into law practice and end up in the Wizengamot one day.

But once again and not surprisingly at all for those who knew her better, the books had captured Hermione once more and she dedicated all her energy into research of magical law policy and law history. Hermione lived up greatly to the challenges the academic world of Kondra offered her and quickly became completely absorbed in her studies and the new intellectual community she had found in New York. At 21, she finished the first part of her studies, one year earlier than it had been expected from her and was offered to proceed her studies at Kondra as a member of a 3-years exellence program in international wizarding law research.

By that time she had met Paul Collins, a Kondra student who was also part of the exellence programe and three years Hermione's senior. Paul had been to school in America, but his father was British and Paul was rooted in Britain as much as in America. Hermione and Paul started dating and he became her steady boyfriend. Equally ambitious and bright, the two were the perfect couple and Hermione was thrilled to have found her match. When Harry and Ron visited her nearly one year ago, they had met Paul and found him…

"A bit boring, if you ask me, Ginny. You know, he is no sports and owns far too many books that are not about Quidditch." Ron told Ginny, who had, for the hundrest time, asked the two young men to describe Hermione's husband.

"He is still perfect for Hermione." Harry said. "It is kind of not normal how well they fit together. I mean, alright, he is some kind of weird combination of Percy's ambitious and workaholic ways and Lupins' clear and conscientious character. And he is smart, I thought I had met the male Hermione, when I first saw him. But he is nice, very calm and down to earth."

"Hmm, and he looks kind of cute, judging from the pictures she sent." Ginny added thoughtfully.

Ron frowned: "Well, alright, he is tall and blonde and wears glasses."

Ginny frowned back: "You have no eye for the detail. He is very stylish and looks sort of strong to me."

"You seemed to have given that picture a very close look." Harry teased her.

"Darling, you know that no guy could ever be a match to you!" Ginny replied playfully. "Well." she added, "I will meet him today in less than three hours. And he will stay for a while, for an infinite number of very close looks."

Harry and Ron growned. They had both liked Paul, although he was not the type of guy they would choose to hang around with. Although Harry had in fact found it amazing how similar he was to Hermione, he secretly thought that he lacked so many qualities that made Hermione, well, Hermione. Paul did not have Hermione's passion when it came to all those little obsessions she so dearly groomed (SPEW, to mention only one of them). He was also no match to Hermione's humour and her temper that could be quite hot once awakened. But then, he seemed to give Hermione exactly what she wanted: He brought calm and order to her life, he made her happy and he more than understood her ambition and love for science.

Hermione's parents were of course thrilled by the polite and intelligent Paul Collins, although the sudden marriage half a year ago had caught them off guard. Like everyone, Harry thought.

A few weeks ago, Hermione had written another letter, anouncing something that had made everyone very happy. The American and the British Ministry for Magic had established a cooperation about international wizarding law which included a research office about law policy and history at the wizarding university in London. Kondra was invited to send four students from the excellence program to join that office, who would be finishing the program there. Hermione and Paul, as top students of the program had be selected and were thus coming to live in London for at lest the next year. Today was finally the day when they would arrive among Hermione's old friends, many of whom had not seen Hermione in years and were most eager to meet her husband.

"Well, perhaps she will come up with some amazing late wedding ceremony." Ginny said hopefully. "I would so much like to rehearse before doing it myself." She happily flashed a pretty ring at Harry, who grinned.

"You want to attend a really weird wedding, before making your own stunning entrance on our big day, dear, I see, how very thoughful of you!" He laughed.

"Speaking of weird, unexpected weddings." Ron said. "Looks who's here." He indicated the couple that had just entered the garden.

The man was tall, broad-shouldered and dark haired. Only the date on his birth certificate showed his real age of 44 years. He was extremely handsome with long dark hair that he had wiped in a ponytail, a strong-jawed face, a muscular body and a grin that made him seem as in his thirties. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, ragged blue jeans and heavy boots. His black leather jacket was thrown over his shoulder. The woman next to him was the complete opposite to his rather ragged, rebellious look. She was a pretty, petite blonde with a very winning smile. Her hair was straight and shoulder-long. She was looking up at the man who was (according to his birth certificate) seventeen years her senior, with pure affection and a good deal of admiration. Her tidy blue skirt and pink sweater made her look sweet and a little naïve.

"Hi Sirius! Hello Shelley!" Ginny waved over at the couple. Sirius yelled his greeting back at them and Shelley gave a small wave and a smile. When they had disappeared into the house, undoubtingly delivering the cake Shelley had been carrying, Ron turned to Harry and Ginny.

"Mental, I tell you! I thought I would laugh out loud when he first introduced her."

"Ron, don't be so rude! She is very nice and such a sweet person! OK, she does not exactly seem his type, but who care if they are happy? It has been working for over half a year now and look at him, he is so happy!" Ginny had sat up to defend Sirius' young wife with whom she had established a very nice friendship.

"Calm down Ginny, you know what I mean!" Ron sounded afraid of setting his sister's temper off that was very much like their mother's. "I just mean, she is really pretty and all, I don't doubt that. But she is so not what Sirius would normally go for. All that pink and the tea-roses in Grimmauld Place and that wedding, do you remember?"

Harry remembered only too well when about eight months ago, his godfather had announced he intended to marry Shelley, his girlfriend of a few weeks and asked Harry if he would be his best man. The wedding took place in a small, romantic chapel near the Burrow, the party afterwards consisted of a cosy little reception with many tea-roses and even more chit-chat. Harry had never really imagined his godfather's wedding, because he had found it too unlikely, but if he had, it certainly would not have involved a single tea-rose, but loads of dancing, alcohol, loud music and a crazy send-off to some crazy honeymoon. But to everyone's surprise, Sirius, who had been living his free bachelor-life to the fullest since he had been cleared of all charges, seemed comfortable and happy to let Shelley have her way with the wedding. Sure, he looked as out of place among all the light pink decorations as did tea-roses in Grimmauld Place, but nevertheless, he seemed to be happy.

Harry grinned. If he had been told a year ago that Sirius Black would end up married to a girl like Shelley, he most probably have pointed at the person who told him and have said: "Mental, I tell you!"

"We should get ready you know. If we don't help with dinner preperations, Mum will kill us." Ginny said, getting up from the ground and brushing the grass of her jeans.

"She wants everything to be perfect for Hermione's welcome party, doesn't she?" Harry asked.

"Yes of course. And she wants to impress Paul, she knows he is from a rather wealty home, that always makes her nervous." Ginny sighed. "Come on, guys, get up! We won't get out of this one!"

And, sure enough, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the garden, her hands on her hips, shouting something about lazybones.

What do you think so far? Please read and review! Cheers, Marie


	3. What they want?

A few hours later, everybody was sitting in the garden of the Burrow, enjoying the warm June sun and Mrs. Weasley's formidable meal. Harry glanced to his right side. Two seat away from him, seperated by Ginny, sat Hermione. She was chatting to Mrs. Weasley with her husband Paul who sat on her other side. Harry could not hear what they were talking about and was not interested much, because he needed to watch his best friend.

Hermione had definitely changed in New York. He had seem the signs when he and Ron had visited her in autumn. Hermione had grown into a beautiful, self-confident woman. Her thick, cinnamon coloured curls, that were currently drawn back in a simple, low ponytail reached the small of her back and she was slightly tanned. She had adopted an effortless, yet elegant style that showed very well in her tight, light brown pants and black shoulderfree top. Her large dark brown eyes emitted more than ever the sense of an overwhelming intelligence.

She turned her head towards Harry and smiled. Harry winked and smiled back. He was amazed about how content and settled Hermione seemed. She made it very obvious that her marriage with Paul was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Paul listened to Mrs. Weasley, who was, judging by her gestures, talking about the Weasley twins' newest invention for the ever-successful Weasley's Wizard Weezes. He wore a light blue button-down shirt and dark blue jeans. His dark blond hair was untidy but in a very stylish way, that Harry suspected not to grow like that as in his own case. The brown eyes behind his glasses showed that he enjoyed himself. Hermione and him were sitting next to each other, yet without touching. Harry grinned, because Mrs. Weasley obviously preferred this behaviour to her daughter in law Fleur's who was positively wrapped around her husband Bill just opposite Hermione. Harry could not help but like that polite, calm man sitting next to his best friend, because he apparently made her very happy.

A loud barking laugh draw Harry's attention to the other side of the long table, where Sirius was sitting, roaring with laughter at a joke Tonks must have told. Shelley was laughing with him, though not audible over Sirius' loud voice. Harry noticed that her eyes never left Sirius and expressed as much admiration as they always did. Shelley was sitting very closely to Sirius who had a possessive arm wrapped around her. When Sirius looked up and met Harry's eyes, he grinned.

Later, when the sun was setting, Harry found the opportunity to talk to Hermione on his own. Paul was standing on the other side of the garden, deep in conversation with Lupin.

"So, how is it going?" Harry asked.

"It is wonderful!" Hermione smiled. "You cannot imagine how happy I am to be here. I am so excited about the research office, the work there will be very interesting and studying along with all those brilliant people, I am so lucky!"

Harry grinned: "No, I mean Paul and you? How is that going?"

"Oh, well, fine. We will move into a nice flat, it's already prepared, Paul's family arragend that. It is quite central, close to the university you know with a balcony and a huge kitchen and so on." She was glowing.

"No, Hermione I mean, your marriage, how is that going? We were quite surprised, you know!"

"Everything is just fine. It is so great to study together, we have kind of the same way of doing and thinking things. We will work on different projects for the research office, though, but that will be fascinating, because we can fill each other in and discuss our work together, you know." Hermione was still glowing.

Harry shook his head. It was useless. She was obviously so thrilled about the research office that she could not talk about anything else. He grinned and said: "Well tell me more about work. What is it exactly that you do?"

Later on, after listening to Hermione talk about a research project about the Ministry of Magic's law policy during Voldemort's time and case studies and difficulties, because the Ministry did not want to be researched on, Harry left Hermione to be questioned by Ginny and watched the other people in the garden. Lupin and Paul had now been joined by Tonks and were still talking. Bill and Ron were being entertained by Sirius, who unmistakeably talked about a Marauder adventure, Shelley still at his side. Harry thought he had never seen her on her own, she was always with Sirius. At that moment, Ginny joined him and her kiss made him forget everything else.

When they had all said goodbye for the night, Remus and Tonks were still sitting in the garden, watching the last candles burn down.

"What do you think?" Tonks asked her boyfriend.

"I assume you want to know my opinion about Paul and Hermione, right?"

"Right!" Tonks grinned in the darkness.

"Well, he is nice and very smart. Well, Hermione would not have picked him if he wasn't. I think he is quite a catch and they fit together really well." Remus had enjoyed the conversation with Paul.

Tonks seemed to pondering her next words: "Well, he is nice, that is right. But I am glad that you are a bit more touchy." She snuggled against Remus, who pulled her towards him. "They rarely touched, did they?"

"I didn't notice." Remus said truthfully. "Well, but don't you think that's some Hermione-thing. She is not exactly physical either. But speaking of phsical, you won't be complaining about the lack of touch when it comes to Sirius and Shelley."

"Sirius is physical, no one would deny that. And Shelley is everything Sirius is or what he wants her to be." Tonks said.

Remus looked at her in surprise: "I thought you liked her. And I thought you liked Paul. What's the matter?"

Tonks, pondering her answer again, replied: "I do like them, as people you know, but these marriages… I don't know about that. They don't seem to be the right partners for Hermione and Sirius."

"What, but they all are deliriously happy. Both Sirius and Hermione got exactly what they want."

Tonks sighed and said wisely: "You mean they got what they think they want."

Remus did not ask for an explanation, because Tonks' tone made it clear that she regarded the discussion as finished.

----

About three weeks after that, Hermione closed the door of her appartement behind herself and placed her keys carefully next to her husband's. The work for the research office was more than she had expected in every way. It was more exhausting, but also more interesting and Hermione dedicated all her energy to the project. Working like that made her happy and she was successful in what she did.

"Paul, I am home!" she shouted.

"Hello! How are you? Did the conference take that long?" Her husband, the Daily Prophet in his hand, exited from the living room and kissed her on the cheek.

"Yes, it was pretty difficult. They do not want us to work on concrete case studies. Well, the Ministry tries to maintain its reputation. It is almost like in Fudge's days." Hermione sighed as she sank into her favourite armchair.

Paul watched his wife. Although she looked tired, the fire in her eyes when she was talking about her work burned as bright as ever. He smiled and sat down on the couch, eager to hear her interpretaion of the Ministry's struggle to keep some information from the research team. Hermione had a very clear opinion of things and he loved to discuss her analyses with her. After about three hours of good talk, Hermione yawned, got up and said: "I really need to go to bed. Are you coming?"

Paul looked up at her: "Yes, in a minute, I need to read that report, but that won't take longer than half an hour."

Sure enough, half an hour later, Hermione felt Paul sink into the pillows next to her. She turned around to meet his eyes and purred: "I am cold, would you warm me up?"

Paul smiled and took her in his arms. Hermione snuggld against him and kissed her husband who kissed her tenderly back and then closed his eyes to sleep. She had actually wanted to be warmed up a different way than that but she knew that Paul was tired and decided to sleep too.

A few miles away, Sirius Black was having a hell of a time. He had met some old and new friends, including Remus and Tonks in a bar and was now laughing along with their stories and jokes. He listened to a particularly juicy anecdote when his eyes fell on Tonks who had appearantly managed to drag Remus to the dance floor. Sirius grinned and watched. Remus had never been much of a dancer. But to his surprise, Remus and Tonks engaged in a quite passionate, hot dance and Sirius could not help but envy Remus a bit. Shelley had preferred to stay at home, as she neither liked dancing nor drinking very much. Sirius sighed but thought that he would make up for the lack of action on the dance floor when he got home and turned back to his friends.

When he entered his bedroom a few hours later, Shelley was asleep, as usually wrapped in all the blankets she could find. Sirius undressed to his boxer shorts and slipped into bed next to her. It took him a while to find her under all the blankets, but when he finally did, he started to stroke her until she woke and turned around.

"Hi darling." She whispered. "Have you had a good time?"

"I missed you…" Sirius breathed against her neck.

Shelley giggled softly as he pushed her shirt up. Sirius kissed her passionately and flipped her on her back. She kissed him softly back and reached for the lamp on the nightstand and put the light out. Later, Sirius went down to the kitchen to get some water. He thought about his relationship. It was never very hard for him to seduce his wife, actually, he did rarely need to seduce her at all. Shelley simply liked everything he did, as long as he was tender and took his time. Loving Shelley was easy and uncomplicated, they never fought and rarely were of different opinions about somehing. After all the years with different women, a lot of drama, passion and fights, Sirius was glad to have found a girl who made his life easy and happy. Shelley was good-natured, she did not have those dark sides Sirius usually found utterly atractive in women. He had been surprised himself how much he liked being around her, when they had first met. He had quickly fallen in love with the quiet young woman and had found himself satisfied and content with his life for the first time ever. She didn't even argue when he started going out again after they had been married for a while. He at first tried to persuade her to accompany him, but she did not like going out. She told him she trusted him fully and he should go and have fun with his friends. So Sirius went and had fun. He did not think of other women, however, because he found that he did not need to. He liked coming home to his wife and finding her up or asleep, but always waiting for him.

Sirius sighed. Today, however, something had been different. Seeing Remus and Tonks dance like that had stirred something inside him, even though he was not sure what it was. Probably it was just seeing his best friend touch his little cousin like that. He grinned at himself and went back to bed.


	4. Dance with me

Hi you all! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoy this new chapter too! Cheers from Marie!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Amour Fou, Chapter 4 – Dance with me 

"Will you do it then?" Ginny watched her best friend hopefully.

"Of course, I will, Ginny! I am honoured!" Hermione laughed.

"Well that fits, as you will be my maid of honour!" The girls started to giggle. When they had calmed down again, Hermione asked: "So, who will be Harry's best man?"

"Oh, that was quite some struggle. Harry could not decide between Ron and Sirius. But Sirius solved it, he said we should both pick two people, so Harry can have Ron and him."

"And that's why I have Luna as a colleague?" Hermione groaned at the idea of planning a bachelorette party alongside Luna. "I bet you anything she will try to get Stubby Boardman as a singer." And the girls broke into giggles again.

"God, I am so excited, only five weeks to go and I will be Mrs. Harry Potter." Ginny threw herself back onto the carpet of her room. "Speaking of being a Mrs., Hermione I want to ask you something. Why didn't you change your name?"

Hermione blinked. "I am very fond of my name. Besides, it is a sign of independence and I like that."

"I should have thought so. This is typical for you. But don't you think it is romantic to take the other person's name?"

"Well, it may be in some cases. But Paul did not want to take my name either, so we decided to leave it like it was."

"Ah, there is something else about the maid of honour-business, Hermione." Ginny said when she noticed that the question of the names in marriage was finished for Hermione.

"Fire away."

"Well, Ron is teasing me non-stop about my wedding plans. He makes fun of anything I say, be it flowers, the music, the dress. Well you know him."

Hermione grinned: "All too well."

"So I figured I would take revenge by having him make his entrance into the church with Luna instead of you." Ginny grinned maliciously.

Hermione shook her head, laughing: "He won't like that, he thinks Luna is too strange to be allowed. And he will be nervous anyway. And if Luna comes up with something weird to wear or do…"

"…what she absolutely will, even Trelawney could predict that…" Ginny added.

"…then it will be total agony for Ron. A very fine revenge. When will you tell him?" Hermione surpressed giggles when she imagined Ron walking Luna down the aisle who was wearing her gigantic Griffindor-Lion hat, which she had bewitched to chant the wedding march in honour of the occasion.

"Not until last minute, so he won't chicken out of course." Ginny said.

"So it will be Luna with Ron and Sirius with me then. Fine I think that will work. I will have a job spying at the guys to make sure they won't throw a better party for Harry than we will for you." Hermione got up. "I have to leave, Ginny, I am meeting Paul in town before I get back to the office. We rarely see each other at the moment, because we both work non-stop."

"Say hello to him from me! See you!" Ginny said as Hermione apparated out of her room.

----

Sirius had some difficulty navigating through the crowd with five Butterbeers clutched between his hands. The club they had chosen for Harry's bachelor party was packed. The large, lounge-like niche their all-guy group had occupied gave them an excellent view over the dancefloor and to the entrance, causing Ron and the twins to make remarks about every female who entered the club. Paul, whom Harry had invited last minute chatted with Bill Weasley. Harry was already slightly drunk, but, Sirius thought, that was the whole purpose of the night. Sirius sank to the sofa next to Remus, who was watching the crowd.

"I wonder what the girls are doing." Remus said suddenly.

"You miss Tonks, don't you?" Sirius shook his head and laughed. "Well that Luna girl tried to spy on us planning the party when we were at the Burrow one night. She is sort of weird and didn't do her job very well, it was too obvious what she was up to. Hermione was a lot cleverer, I can tell you. But she did not find out we were coming here. She probably suspets us in some boring pub." Sirius grinned.

"Do you know where the girls are going?" Remus asked.

"No, Hermione was too smart to give us a hint or tell Luna, which I think was a brilliant move, because, believe me, I would certainly have got it out of her. No, I think they make some cosy movie-night or something."

"No, they aren't." Remus said curtly.

"You know where they are going? Ah, of course, Tonks blabbed." Sirius said.

"No, she didn't, actually she is currently standing next to the entrance, which leaves little doubt about where the girls are planning to go tonight." Remus pointed to the door.

Sirius gasped. A group of young women stood there, eyeing the crowd and searching for a place to sit. And sure enough, right in front flashed Tonks' spiky pink hair. Ginny was there and Luna and Fleur and Shelley and some other girls Sirius had never seen before. He wondered where Hermione, the organizer of the whole thing might be when she entered the club. Remus felt Sirius sit up slightly. Hermione was wearing a tight dark blue jeans that hugged her curves and brought out her long legs. With it she sported a smokey grey neckholder top made of shimmering satin. Her hair was falling loosely over her shoulders and framed her beautiful face. At that precise moment, Hermione's eyes met Sirius'. For a moment she just looked at him, then her face broke into a typical I've-known-it-all-along smile and she pointed the guys out to the girls.

"Look who it is!" she grinned at Sirius when they arrived at the guys' lounge. "Not that I didn't expect this. Could you makesome room for us, gentlemen?"

Sirius got up and offered the place next to him to Hermione. "Certainly, my lady. But tell me, where did you learn to spy like that?"

"Oh, there was no need to spy as I expected you to come here anyway. I mean, your usual pub would have been too plain a choice. I knew you must be going for something fancier and this is the only club Harry _and_ Ron like because they play music both of them can live with. And it is not some teenager place, so Remus and you would not get too bored." Hermione knew immediately that she had hit the point when Sirius broke into laughter.

"Brilliant as I remember you. But why, if I might ask you, are you here then? Harry and Ginny are supposed to spent the night apart from each other's control."

"Because I figured it would be much more fun if we met at some point of the night. And look at them." She indicated Ginny, who was sitting on Harry's lap, kissing every bit of him she could reach. "She is so drunk by now and annoyed everyone with her 'I want my Harry!'. And Remus does not look unhappy too. And you, Bill and me will be safely reunited with our spouses." She added when Fleur wrapped herself around Bill again.

"The perfect solution. I can only surrender to you!" Sirius bowed his head. Then he conspiratively leaned in to her and whispered "By the way, you look stunning tonight." With that, he sat down. Hermione first seemed to be unsure what to do, then she gave him an equally conspirative smile and sat down too.

Just then, Paul came over and sat on Hermione's other side, greeting her with a small kiss on the cheek. They immediately engaged in conversation. Within another minute, Sirius had Shelley by his other side. She had reluctantly agreed to join the party after Ginny had begged and teased her for a week. Sirius kissed her and lay his usual arm around her.

About two rounds of drinks later, Ginny questioned Harry loudly about his bachelor party.

"Were there any strippers?" she asked.

Harry blinked. Then his face broke into a wide grin and he retorted, stuttering slightly: "Loads. A-and they all seemed ta know…" who all the strippers seemed to know was never revealed because Ginny broke into noisy complaints.

"This – this is s-so unfair. I didn't have any. W-well we considered Stubby Boardman but he wouldn't strip."

Hermione mouthed a mute "Oh no." and closed her eyes as Sirius raised an eyebrow. She had not intended their Stubby-Boardman jokes to become that public. But Ginny was not to be stopped.

"I would have liked to see S-Stubby strip, really, it would be veeeery worth it, wouldn't it, Hermione?"

Sirius slowly turned his head towards a temporarily speechless Hermione, looking interested. Hermione regained control quickly and could not resist to grin at Sirius while saying: "Definitely." She regretted it as soon as the words had left her lips and cursed herself for the last shot she had had. Sirius looked mockingly scandalized and started to say something when Paul asked: "Who is Stubby Boardman?" (Surprise, he does not read The Quibbler, Sirius thought).

Hermione blushed and turned her head from Sirius to her husband: "Never mind. Ladies, gents, what about a dance?"

As Ginny and Luna jumped to their partly very unsteady feet, dragging a reluctant Shelley with them to the dance floor, the guys tried to look very busy with their drink, conversations and so on. Sirius would have liked to join the girls but found it too risky to leave his drunken godson alone for too long. After joking and drinking with Harry for a while, Sirius sat back to clear his head a bit. He turned to watch the crowd on the dancefloor when he spotted the group of girls in the center of the dancefloor. Shelley was standing with Ginny, obviously glad to watch over her rather than dance herself. Sirius smiled. Shelley neither liked dancing nor loud music.

Then his eyes fell on Hermione, who was dancing next to Luna and Tonks. She moved gracefully, totally one with the rhythm. Long cinnamon locks were flying everywhere, Sirius could see sweat shining on golden skin. She had her arms raised, eyes closed, her curvy body moving smoothly with the music. Sirius felt desire erupt in his chest. He had never seen anything as erotic as her, dancing there in the pulsing mass of people, on her own and independent as ever but at the same time one with the heat of the crowd and the music. He longed to go there, to touch her, to grab her and run his hands over that back, those hips, to push that hair out of her face, to feel her body pressed against his… Sirius felt his breath go faster as a rush of images exploded in his head. He ran his tongue over his lips, his eyes narrowed like a dog's that has found its prey: Sirius continued to watch the beautiful woman dance, letting the mix of desire, fantasy and pleasure take control, sometimes giving in to the image of her eyes finding his and not caring about it being real or not.

Hermione inhaled the heat of the crowded dancefloor. She had learned how much she loved to dance like this in New York, when her new friends had taken her to clubs she would have never visited otherwise. Tonight, she had reached a point where she could dance for hours, allowing herself to be carried away by the music and the atmosphere completely. She enjoyed to have a place of her own where she could let go like this and that place was here, with her friends and the music. Hermione loved to dance to latin and soul music, everything with a good deal of rhythm and heat in it.

She felt hot, shook her hair out of her face and threw up her arms, dancing passionately. She didn't mind the crowd around her, she enjoyed being part of it, being carried by it, watching, being watched. And she was watched intensly tonight, she suddenly felt it. A pair of eyes she could not locate moved over her body, up and down, almost like hands that explored every inch of her skin. Hermione did not feel anything but these hands caressing her body, they followed her every move, stroking her shoulders, moving up her arms, to her raised hands, where they intertwined with her fingers.

The hands moved down again, down her sides, casually wandering along her breasts, they got hold of her waist and pulled her back towards an unmistakeably male body. Hermione drew in a sharp breath when she felt that body, strong and muscular, pressed against her back. He, who now held her close had his own powerful rhythm and Hermione quickly found it, moving, rocking with him. His one hand passionately touched her stomach, moving upward between her breasts, along the naked skin of her neck and made her lean her head back onto his shoulder.

She felt his breath on her skin, as he forcefully guided her towards a dark passage in the back of he club. Hermione wanted him to continue with whatever he had in mind and gasped when he pressed her to a wall. She felt the cool stone on her cheek, leaning her hands against it, to find salvation from the heat in her body, although she knew that the man whose rough lips now caressed her neck and shoulders from behind was the only one who could give her the salvation she wanted.

She heard herself moan as his hands found their way underneath her clothes. She had never felt such desire and breathed: "I want you" to the stranger who at that, grabbed her hand and whipped her around. Before Hermione could open her eyes to look at him, she felt his hot lips crush against hers, a slight stubble rubbed against her skin. She opened her mouth to allow him to slip his tongue in her mouth. She kissed him back with the same force and passion, causing him to moan huskily. Hermione wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her up, crashing her into the wall. Her hands found his face and she opened her eyes to look at him. His grey eyes were dark with passion but still unmistakeable.

And Hermione woke with a muffled scream, sitting up on her bed next to her husband who had not noticed his wife toss and turn in her sleep. She ran a hand through her hair that was damp with sweat and stared into the streaks of moonlight that fell across her bed, still panting. She hoped not to have woken Paul. She could not imagine to explain herself to him now, because she felt that as soon as she would open her mouth, the heat that still lingered in her body would cause her only to moan one word: "Sirius."


End file.
